MOBILE Alabama – A judge today sentenced the driver in a fatal wreck to life in prison after hearing from anguished families of both the defendant and the victim.

A Mobile County Circuit Court jury last month found Robin Wells Dickens guilty of criminally negligent homicide after hearing evidence that she had drugs in her system when she plowed into a car driven by Deborah Hilliard on March 4, 2011.

The conviction was for a lesser offense than the murder charges that prosecutors had filed. But because the Semmes woman had four prior convictions, Presiding Circuit Judge Charles Graddick had discretion to impose the life prison sentence.

Graddick told Dickens that he has no doubt that she did not mean to kill Hilliard. But he said she should be held responsible because of her decision to use drugs – including cocaine – before getting behind the wheel.

“Regardless of your intent, it affects your ability and impairs your ability to operate a motor vehicle,” he said.

Graddick noted that Dickens, 50, was on her way to pick up her young granddaughter when the wreck occurred on Schillinger Road.

“That’s even more frightening,” he said.

Defense attorney Jeff Deen, who indicated that his client would appeal, sought a diversion sentence that would have allowed Dickens to avoid prison.

“The jury heard the facts and disagreed with the state’s rendition of them,” he said.

According to testimony at the trial, Dickens’ Toyota Camry crossed the center line without warning and collided head on with Hilliard’s Chevrolet Cavalier. Witnesses testified that they saw no indication that Dickens tried to stop or avoid the collision.

In addition to cocaine, Dickens had methadone and the depressant clonazepam in her system, according to testimony.

Deen argued at the trial that the crash was an accident, and he reiterated today his belief that prosecutors had failed to demonstrate that his client was speeding, driving erratically to doing anything else wrong until the accident.

He acknowledged that Dickens has a criminal record, including convictions for credit card fraud theft and possession of drugs, but he said his client committed those offenses nearly 20 years ago.

Dickens turned directly do Hilliard’s family and tearfully apologized. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” she said.

Assistant District Attorney Grant Gibson asked for the maximum punishment.

“There was a cocktail of drugs and illegal substances in her system. She was pretty much gambling with lives,” he said.

Hillard’s relatives struggled to describe the impact the wreck has had on their lives.

Chance Harbison, 13, said his grandmother was instrumental in helping him get over his father’s death from an auto accident three years ago.

“It has been 605 days since I’ve seen her and hugged her,” he said. “I can’t explain how much I needed her. … My nana doesn’t get a second chance.”

Harbison’s mother, Angela Harbison, said she still has panic attacks when she drive since her mother died. She referred to a statement Deen made during closing arguments last month when he attempted to distinguish his client’s behavior from the kind of conduct that would merit a conviction. He offered the example of someone who fired a gun indiscriminantly into a crowd.

“Robin Dickens is a flying bullet,” she said.

The defendant’s family painted a much different picture, one of a loving woman who had suffered a troubled childhood but had rebuilt her life.

A friend, Kathy Lee, described the defendant’s church activities.

Dickens’ mother, June Carrera, told Graddick that her daughter’s father took her to live in Texas when she was young and that she got involved with drugs. Later, Carrera said, Dickens was the victim of a savage attack that included 36 stab wounds.

“In 1996, she became totally normal,” she said. “She’s not a violent, vicious person.”

The defendant’s husband, Frank Dickens, choked back tears as he described how his wife that day was trying to pass a car as she was following him to drop off a trailer.